For being annoyed at restaurant for giving our table away?

[diamondsareforever5]

Had a Father's Day meal booked for 4:30 at a restaurant today. Miraculously managed to get the kids out the house with plenty of time to get there (restaurant is 20 mins away and left at 3:45). Satnav said we would arrive just after 5 past.

Around 10 minutes into the journey, we got stuck in grid lock traffic. By the time we started moving, the satnav was now saying we wouldn't get to the restaurant until 4:40. I called the restaurant to let them know we would be 10 minutes late.

We finally got to the car park at around 4:42. I rang the restaurant again, as they have a 15 minute grace period, so I was aware that we only had 3 minutes to get to the restaurant and the car park was around a 5 minute walk away. Whoever I spoke to on the phone assured me they would hold the table.

We got to the restaurant just after 4:45 only to be told that our table had just been given away! I explained that I had just spoken to someone literally minutes before who said they would hold the table for us. The lady just shrugged and said "sorry, it's our policy" and that another table wouldn't be available until another hour and a half!

I understand that we were late and had just missed the grace period, but I was told that they would hold the table for us! AIBU to be really pissed off about this?

We did end up in another restaurant which everyone enjoyed so Father's Day wasn't completely ruined I suppose, but just annoying as I really wanted to try this new restaurant!

I would like some details about how - realistically - OP could have “planned the journey better”. And whatever those details are, I expect whoever described them to also follow those exact guidelines every time they go anywhere.

We live near a motorway, we can use it to get to many of our local towns. However, if we have to get somewhere for a special occasion, we use the local A roads and leave well early - because we know a 10 minute journey one junction on the motorway can turn into an hour and a half delay, and there’s a knock on effect on the local roads. Yes, we do follow our own guideline every time we go anywhere, because we’ve been held up too many times by crashes on the motorway - every time the sun shines, it’s raining, it’s foggy, it’s snowing or it’s a Sunday!

When I called it was actually still within the grace period (just) so table shouldn't have been given away just yet. I'm not going to leave a bad review, was just feeling a bit annoyed at the clear miscommunication.

4:30 was the only time slot we could get.

Right? It’s a table in a restaurant, not a second-by-second planned covert military operation.

Some posters are just being dicks for the sake of it (or they’re massively overestimating how ‘well run’ restaurants are 😆) There’s no way these posters are that black-and-white in real life, they’re just doing it on here to relieve their own tensions. Happens on every thread these days.

OP did everything she could:

She left 45 minutes to travel 20. That’s not ‘cutting it fine’ as some brainiac on here said 🤣

She called twice to update the restaurant and received confirmation that they knew she was coming and would hold the table.

She was two minutes outside of the ‘Grace period’.

All that has happened here is that the twerp who answered the phone failed to pass on the message to whomever had the OP’s table in their section. That’s it.

It’s a minimum wage staffing error, the OP did what she could. Traffic happens.

And now she’s getting slammed for not following the ‘guideline’ of another poster and planning an alternative route relying upon A-roads and smaller roads, to the restaurant because it was a ‘special occasion’. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

This place is so funny.

I don’t know if some posters are thick as mince or don’t have eyes, but they don’t seem to be able to understand the clearly written words in the green boxes.

Absolutely infuriating. May I politely suggest that those using ‘OP bashing’ as a stress reliever, take up a more useful method, like spitting at pigeons in the park. 😂

If you left 45 minutes for a normally 20 minute journey AND called the restaurant twice then despite some of the mental responses you’ve received here, I’m not sure what else you could have realistically done!

If they were going to strictly enforce their 15 minute rule, which they’d be within the rights to, then they should have told you that on the phone and not send it was fine and that they were holding the table for you. I’m sure that this was an oversight on their part and that the phone answerer failed to pass on the message rather than it being a calculated way of punishing you for your lateness. But it’s crappy of them. I’d leave a bad review saying exactly that- that you knew were late, and you would understand completely if they enforce their grace period, but it’s completely unacceptable that they told you not once but twice that it was fine.

There’s a lot of posts like this, this morning. I think some posters like to be contrary for the sake of being contrary. What a sad life for them.

The person who gave your table away and shrugged probably has more authority and a higher position at the restaurant than the nice person who answered the phone and said they’d hold the table for you.

The person who gave your table away waited for 15 minutes which is the grace period, you showed up two minutes past the grace period and so the person proceeded according to the rules of the restaurant.

That person and the person on the phone are two different people. The person on the phone was superseded by the person who actually makes the decisions.

If you think of it that way, you can reconcile how you were warmly assured on the phone that your table would be held, then when you got there it wasn’t and the warm feeling was now a cold feeling. Plus it’s a new restaurant so the staff are under pressure to do the right thing. The right thing meant one thing to the first person, and something different to the second person.

Glad you were able to find another restaurant.

How do you get the Google that forsees future accidents?

@VisionsOfSplendour would love to know how to get that version of Google maps too!

You are right. Apologies I didn't actually post what I was thinking. I decided against it because it was all speculation but then settled for a 'summary' that was factually wrong.

I was speculating that after the phone call the receptionist had to find the manager to inform her and by the time that happened the table was lost. Or perhaps the phone rang again before the receptionist could update the booking system. Or perhaps the booking system was not playing ball.

The modern world has become so used to instant communication that we think there can be instant implementation.

That was my gripe, really a gripe at the world that expects that things can be done instantly and perfectly.

Lots of restaurants now want you to pay a holding deposit of £25-50 per head to stop no shows and reserve your table for the given slot. Both sides then have confidence in the reservation. It was Father’s Day and presumable they had a party of 4 wanting the table, perhaps all adults who would spend more. It’s understandable.

I can’t believe half of the responses on here! YANBU.

If you just turned up and they’d given it away then fair enough.

But the fact you phoned twice and we’re told it would be ok, only to turn up and it wasn’t, is bad communication and I too would be really exasperated.

I can imagine the stress in the car at the traffic, the panic, the relief when you call and they say it’s fine, only for it to all fall apart when you arrive.

Hope you managed to have a nice day regardless.

This is not something to be holding a deep seated grudge about. Sometimes you don’t get what you want. Sometimes even people who consider themselves ‘important people’ don’t get what they want like a table in a restaurant. What a minuscule thing to be upset about. You said you ended up finding a different place and had a good time. Are you going to lodge a complaint?

Several of us have explained to you that the person who said they’d hold the table and the person who didn’t are two different people. You’re trying to amalgamate them into one person and thus you can’t reconcile what happened. Logic.

What a rude and patronising response. I have said nothing that suggests I am "trying to amalgamate them into one person". I am just simply saying that it's very annoying that the people who work at the restaurant clearly failed to communicate with each other properly, which resulted in me thinking my table was safe when it wasn't. I don't think it's unreasonable to be annoyed about that.

I run an escape room and have managed restaurants in the past - the number of people who are late and promise they are just round the corner / just parking, blah blah, drive me nuts. It has a real knock on effect for the rest of the day, for staff and other clients. I understand sometimes lateness cannot be helped, but don’t expect to not be inconvenienced.

@ohdamnitjanet if they call though would you say you would hold the table, and then 5 mins later when they turn up have given it away?

I was preparred to say out of order, but I don't think you are. I think they were incredibly rude.

15 mins for a no show with no communcation I understand as a hard and fast rule - no issue with that. However you had told them you were minutes away and kept in contact so were clearly on your way and close. Not good customer service.

There is more to this than meets the eye OP. As if a random party the same size as yours just happened to be waiting around the restaurant at the same time you were late for the booking. On Fathers day of all days! I smell something fishy and it’s not the prawn starter.

I think that given you kept them informed ir was rude and I’d be emailing to complain.

So you knew you had to travel by the motorway and never thought to check what the traffic was like?

I think they were being unreasonable, you called them twice and it was clear you’d be with them imminently, they shouldn’t have reassured you if it wasn’t the case.

Google maps sometimes doesnt even show closures that are planned its not infallible

It wasn't The Ivy (Asia) was it? Went there the other day and slightly late (5minutes!) due to cab not turning up - actually still arrived within the "Grace period" to be told we were a no-show and our table had been given away. They did give us a table but the attitude was pretty terrible and I'm not going there again. I also don't believe the table had been given away because they don't ever have a queue of people waiting outside for tables - everyone knows you must book in advance.

So, yes "them's the rules", and tough for you, but if you don't like it, and I don't, don't go back!